# Arena 4.0: A Comprehensive ROS2 Development and Benchmarking Platform for Human-centric Navigation Using Generative-Model-based Environment Generation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.12471 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.12471/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 24 of its 34 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 19 Sep 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [3D Scene Graph: A Structure for Unified Semantics, 3D Space, and Camera](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.02527/) (2019)
- [NoMaD: Goal Masked Diffusion Policies for Navigation and Exploration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.07896/) (2023)
- [Habitat 3.0: A Co-Habitat for Humans, Avatars and Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.13724/) (2023)
- [Crowd-Robot Interaction: Crowd-aware Robot Navigation with Attention-based Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.08835/) (2018)
- [Socially Aware Motion Planning with Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.08862/) (2017)
- [Motion Planning Among Dynamic, Decision-Making Agents with Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.01956/) (2018)
- [HouseDiffusion: Vector Floorplan Generation via a Diffusion Model with Discrete and Continuous Denoising](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.13287/) (2022)
- [SACSoN: Scalable Autonomous Control for Social Navigation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.01874/) (2023)
- [Principles and Guidelines for Evaluating Social Robot Navigation Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.16740/) (2023)
- [CubiCasa5K: A Dataset and an Improved Multi-Task Model for Floorplan Image Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.01920/) (2019)
- [A Survey on Socially Aware Robot Navigation: Taxonomy and Future Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.06922/) (2023)
- [Mixed Diffusion for 3D Indoor Scene Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.21066/) (2024)
- [SEAN: Social Environment for Autonomous Navigation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.04300/) (2020)
- [Language and Sketching: An LLM-driven Interactive Multimodal Multitask Robot Navigation Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.08244/) (2023)
- [NavRep: Unsupervised Representations for Reinforcement Learning of Robot Navigation in Dynamic Human Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.04406/) (2020)
- [Arena-Rosnav: Towards Deployment of Deep-Reinforcement-Learning-Based Obstacle Avoidance into Conventional Autonomous Navigation Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.03616/) (2021)
- [Conflict Avoidance in Social Navigation -- a Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.12113/) (2021)
- [HuNavSim: A ROS 2 Human Navigation Simulator for Benchmarking Human-Aware Robot Navigation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.01303/) (2023)
- [An Extensible Benchmarking Infrastructure for Motion Planning Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6673/) (2014)
- [Arena-Bench: A Benchmarking Suite for Obstacle Avoidance Approaches in Highly Dynamic Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.05728/) (2022)
- [MRPB 1.0: A Unified Benchmark for the Evaluation of Mobile Robot Local Planning Approaches](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.00491/) (2020)
- [Arena-Rosnav 2.0: A Development and Benchmarking Platform for Robot Navigation in Highly Dynamic Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.10023/) (2023)
- [Arena-Web -- A Web-based Development and Benchmarking Platform for Autonomous Navigation Approaches](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.02898/) (2023)
- [CoNav: A Benchmark for Human-Centered Collaborative Navigation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.02425/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Virtual Community: An Open World for Humans, Robots, and Society](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.14893/) (2025)
- [TIC-VLA: A Think-in-Control Vision-Language-Action Model for Robot Navigation in Dynamic Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.02459/) (2026)
- [CostNav: A Navigation Benchmark for Real-World Economic-Cost Evaluation of Physical AI Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.20216/) (2025)
- [LISN: Language-Instructed Social Navigation with VLM-based Controller Modulating](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.09920/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Building on the foundations of our previous work, this paper introduces Arena 4.0, a significant advancement over Arena 3.0, Arena-Bench, Arena 1.0, and Arena 2.0. Arena 4.0 offers three key novel contributions: (1) a generative-model-based world and scenario generation approach that utilizes large language models (LLMs) and diffusion models to dynamically generate complex, human-centric environments from text prompts or 2D floorplans, useful for the development and benchmarking of social navigation strategies; (2) a comprehensive 3D model database, extendable with additional 3D assets that are semantically linked and annotated for dynamic spawning and arrangement within 3D worlds; and (3) a complete migration to ROS 2, enabling compatibility with modern hardware and enhanced functionalities for improved navigation, usability, and easier deployment on real robots. We evaluated the platform's performance through a comprehensive user study, demonstrating significant improvements in usability and efficiency compared to previous versions. Arena 4.0 is openly available at https://github.com/Arena-Rosnav.